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NC State looked pretty darn bad in their loss to Illinois on Tuesday in their ACC/Big Ten matchup. When the dust settled, the Pack had lost 88-74.

So what went wrong?

— Defensively, this team needs an identity

Wow. NC State’s defense is very, very concerning. I think, defensively, most of the guys are showing good effort, however, fundamentals, communication, and anticipation on that end of the floor is non-existent.

After the game, both Torin Dorn and Ted Kapita sounded off about the team’s effort on defense. Both made it clear that this team needs to work harder and get smarter on the defensive end. This is true, but how do they do it?

They need to figure out who they are defensively. What is thier identity? Are they a team that sits back and plays position defense? Never reaching, never infiltrating the passing lanes on the perimeter? This style of defense doesn’t get many turnovers, but it does force tougher shots. It’s of the thinking that if they are going to get beat they are going to get beat by teams that shoot it well over top of them. This defense is usually more for teams that like a slower pace and can execute well in the 1/2 court on offense. If you ask me, this does not suit this NC State team.

This team is one that is going to gamble. They are going to jump passes and look to get out and run. That is fine, but that comes with a few caveats.

1) You need strong, solid interior defense. You can’t have a bunch of gambling guards and bunch of block hungry bigs. You need your bigs to be space eaters, who make it tough to get easy buckets in the lane (without fouling). This type of defense puts pressure on the bigs, and requires them to be quick to the spot, anticipate faster, and be more about altering shots than blocking them.

2) You need to pick your spots. If a guard gambles, they have to weigh the situation. Every gamble, every little reach, or pass jumped needs to be thought about situationally. Is it a good time to take a gamble? How badly to we need a stop? Do we drastically need a momentum change? This is where your guards have to be smart in understanding the risk vs the rewards on defense. Every time you get out of position by reaching, breaking on a pass or leaving your feet on a pump fake/shot, you are putting your teammates in a vulnerable position. They are forced to play 4 on 5 until you can recover.

3) You need good communication for fast rotation and recovery. As laid out in the last section, every time you gamble to you  create a situation of help and recover. As a guard, when you reach and get out of position you are now demanding help, usually it’s from a big stepping up to stop the drive. When he steps up, his man is going to dive to the hoop. You need your wings to see this, anticipate this and be able to drop down and fill that space before the ball handler can drop it off to the ‘help man’s’ guy. But then you have an open wing guy. So you need either the next in rotation to take that guy, or you need the guy who gambled to recover. Team defense is complicated, it takes 5 men working together, with constant communication and a lot of talking. It takes knowing your teammates and knowing your rotations. All of this because you wanted to reach for a steal. So was it worth it? Was all of that confusing worth the gamble? That is what the NC State guards need to get better at deciphering.


So what went right?

So there actually was some good news on the night. Let’s run down that list.

– Torin Dorn scored 17 points, was 7-11 from the floor and 3-4 from 3pt range. He was the star of this game and continues to be State’s most consistent scorer.

– Abu shot the ball well. You want Abu showing teams that he can knock down the 15-20 footer, but really you only want this so they press up on him, which would allow him to beat his man off the dribble. Hopefully. tonight is the beginning of Malik finding his stroke, but let’s hope it also doesn’t end up with him falling in love with jumpers. Then again, if he’s making them I guess we’ll take it. Abu finished with 16 points and 5 boards (6-9 shooting).

– Ted Kapita put in 28 solid minutes. 13 points and 5 boards. He and Abu are a nice combo for this squad, but fouls keep them from being on the floor much at the same time. Kapita is showing nice touch around the rim, good effort and tons of intensity. The only knock on him right now is his passing. He’s seeing the open man, but he’s having trouble with the delivery. With only a few games under his belt, we believe he’ll continue to improve here.

– 12-13 from the free throw line. There is no way around it, being great from the line is going to be huge when ACC play comes around.

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wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

The picture says it all. He has no concept of what’s going on defense. His defense is the guy that’s taking the ball out of the basket and throwing it in. Hire a defensive minded assistant and then stay away from them. Go recruiting, that’s all you can do.

WolfPack
WolfPack
7 years ago

Gott, You are awesome recruiter. Keep recruiting, but we need to hire someone who can actually coach defense to team. We need system. We need discipline. We need Communication. We need defensive scheme.

Stop with this non sense of free style defense. There are no such thing as free style defense. Defense is fruit of disciplined team effort.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago

Coach Gott,

Everyone knows you can produce great guards. Work on getting our big me above average.

#GETEMRIGHTCOACH!

John
John
7 years ago

Great analysis

Ian
Ian
7 years ago

wolfpack74, consider how young this team is and how sometimes, there are five players on the floor who are playing together in their first season together. It’s a whole nother level they need to adjust to. No one’s arguing with you that the team needs to play better defense but it’s early still. A new coach? Please!

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

You start by getting another coach. Or getting an assistant that can coach defense.

FireDebbie
FireDebbie
7 years ago
Reply to  wolfpack74

If I was AD I would be having a little chat with Coach after that loss. Team is so undisciplined ridicules!! Just like the football team.

bornwolfpacker
bornwolfpacker
7 years ago
Reply to  wolfpack74

Agreed. If the head coach isn’t strong in an area of the court (Gott doesn’t seem to be strong anywhere but recruiting) then you get assistant coaches who are better. This of course doesn’t look good for the head coach who’s getting paid a ton of money but why not even out the pay a little to have a better assistant coach.

yakima2k
yakima2k
7 years ago

Losing on the road with basically a 6 man rotation is forgivable. And a lot of the turnovers in the first half seemed related to nervous energy – I suspect that problem will fix itself. I’m sad about Anya; what a disappointment he is for the program and his teammates. For someone of his size and potential, as a senior, to not be able to rebound or defend his position is depressing.

NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

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NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

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NC State Basketball

NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

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NC State Basketball

WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

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NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

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NC State Basketball

Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

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The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

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Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

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